Ever So Slowly Falling
by Fire Cookie-kun
Summary: Ever since Haruna first confronted Gouenji, she felt so many strange emotion towards him sweeping over her body. Yet as their relationship grows, Haruna begins feeling responsible for many of the unexpected dramatics events affecting her and Gouenji, and feels she's only causing pain towards Gouenji. Request story from Shiranai Atsune (Gouenji x Haruna)
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! NEW FANFIC! YAY! This is a request story by Shiranai Atsune with Gouenji x Haruna. I really look forward in writing this fic. I don't know why, but writing different things than just yaoi is a good change sometimes (not all the time though *insert yaoi fangirl pedo face*) Anyways I hope you enjoy it :)

In the beginning, I became part of this soccer club for really only one reason. The excitement. To watch the amazing world of soccer. But I've gained so much more from my first thoughts of it. It's now as important in my life as breathing. Although I can't play it, I still love it. The experiences I've been through and seen because of this sport have changed my life, and I'm glad they have. Being part of a team, meeting and making new friends, being reunited with my brother, all of this happened because of this single sport. But these experience will also forever haunt me as well. I've seen my close friends fall, break, injured, torn apart, and become completely lost... But they all came back in the end, and little by little, our friends, our family grew.

I began to love them as much as the family I've once lost. Each member I love no more than the next. But there was one that I liked more, I couldn't deny that. From the beginning, I knew there was something about him that stood out, something that was different than all the others. And although he felt like family to me, I couldn't hide the fact that I had alway felt something more for him. But I couldn't tell him... At first. This boy was one of my brother's best friends. And for a long time, I couldn't say a word. I could only think of what it could have been if we had something more together, with part of me believing it could happen. And with that said, my long secret story begins.

XxxxxX

When I first saw him, it was only from a far. I saw him, slowly making his way to the pitch, with a strong serious expression on his face. It was scary, yet he had courage for facing my brother without any hesitations. Yet what difference did it make? Teikoku Academy was ahead by so many goals. What difference was one new player going to make? I watched them agree on the new players arrival, and my eyes followed him as he moved to his position on the pitch. I had heard rumours about this boy, that he was a super striker when it came to soccer. But were they true? As the whistle blow, and the game continued, I still could only watch this one boy with the number ten showing on his back. But I suddenly heard gasps as I looked to see another terrify shot beginning to form by Teikoku Academy. As their shot rocketed towards the goal, I closed my eyes. I was scared to see what my brother had become, to see how he's changed the players he fights with. It was terrifying to watch. I slowly opened my eyes to find the Raimon goalkeeper, Endou-san, had stopped the ball. Everyone cheered as he through the ball to the boy sprinting to the other end of the pitch.

I watched in awe as he kicked that ball. It had such strength and passion in it, almost like he was holding that power in somehow. And I do have to say I was on my feet cheering with everyone else when that 1 came up on the score board. It was an amazing game, and to win as well! Well it was be default, but a win is a win. Yet I didn't understand why my brother would give up that easily. I watched as he and the rest of his team made it back to there... Lets say "bus". I saw him turn around, and I met his glance. He just simply smiled, then vanished. "Onii-chan..." I thought. I felt sad to see him like that. He was drunk with power, and I felt like I didn't know him anymore. I turned my attention back to our school's soccer team, all huddled around their newest player. It made me smile to see them all happy. But then I saw that boy taking off his soccer shirt before throwing it to Endou-san, and just like that, walked away. I was in complete shock. What was he doing? From then on, my legs had a mind of their own, and I began running after this boy.

"Hey!" I called out as I caught up to him just outside the school gates. "Hey wait!" He stopped and turned around, so sharply that I almost ran into him. "That... That was... Amazing... What you just did," I managed to say in between pants as I bent over, resting my hands on my knees. He didn't say anything. He only gave me this look of some what disgust before turning around and continuing to walk away. "Wait!" I called again. "Aren't you going to play with them? You know, the soccer team?" I asked walking after him. "No," he said as he continued to walk, not even looking in my direction. His voice was deep and direct. It was weird but I imagined his voice to said exactly like that. "But... You were so good," I explained, amazing by his previous answer. "Do you play?" "Not anymore." "Why not?" "I just don't." "You must have a reason to stop." "I just don't want to play anymore." "But you were amazing out there! That team could really use a player like you," I said. He suddenly stopped and turned around to face me. He looked really angry. "If you're so worried about the team, how about you join?!" He yelled.

"I'm just saying you're a really good player. You can't let those skills go to waste," I explained, trying to stand up for myself, but that glare he was giving me was deadly. "Look, I don't want to tell someone I don't even know why I don't want to play anymore ok? Now could you just leave me alone?" he snapped. I stepped back a little, realising I must have offended him. "I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. It's just... Watching you play just then was incredible. And our team really looks like they want someone with you skills, especially Endou-san," I said. He didn't say anything, he only continued to stare at me, but he wasn't giving me that frustrated look like before. It was now a simple neutral expression. "What's your name?" He asked. I looked at him in the eyes, surprised by his question. "It's... Otonashi. Otonashi Haruna." There was a pause, before I heard a slight sigh. "Look Otonashi, I shouldn't have yelled at you before. It's just that soccer freak Endou's been pestering me all week about joining. So I guess I just got a bit carried away. I'm... I'm sorry." "It's fine, really. I shouldn't have been annoying someone I've never met before. It's just... Wow. What you did out there was pure soccer. It was strong and passionate and... It really was amazing to watch," I said with a smile. "Really?" He asked. He looked away suddenly, as if he was trying to hide his face. "Do you... Really think I'm good?" "Well... Yeah I do," I said. I felt kind of embarrassed saying all of that stuff to a completely stranger.

"Thank you," he said turning around. "I really appreciate what you said. I... I needed that." "Well, you're welcome," I said with a smile. "And I am sorry for running after you and saying all that stuff. Because, you know that's sort of weird for a completely stranger to say those things but you know I mean what I said that you were good and..." "Ok ok I get it," he said with a chuckle. "You know you're not so bad. Nice to know someone is slightly interested in me at this school." "Yeah," I said looking away, still slightly embarrassed. "Well I should probably be going." "Ok," he replied in that deep tone again before turning and walking away. But before he turned the corner of the street and called out, "Oh, and I'm Gouenji by the way." And walked off. "Gouenji..." I thought, before shouting "Bye Gouenji-san!"

At that point, my thoughts on Gouenji-san were that he was meaningful in what he had to say, a little rude, and a really good soccer player. But I never realised that that was the exact moment I had fallen for this boy with the number ten printed on his back.

I just realised that Gouenji would have been shirtless the entire time he and Haruna were talking HAHA XD I personally won't have been about to concentrate with him shirtless in front of me :P (I'm not a perv I'm not a perv...) anyways I'm glad I could write I little more these holidays. I hope to do a little more as well (hopefully...) Anyways I hope you enjoyed it, and until next time BYE! :D


	2. Chapter 2

**I know, I haven't updated this fic in like 3 months... Oops... But it's done! So here it is!**

_End of previous chapter_

_"Yeah," I said looking away, still slightly embarrassed. "Well I should probably be going."_

_"Ok," he replied in that deep tone again before turning and walking away. But before he turned the corner of the street and called out, "Oh, and I'm Gouenji by the way." And walked off. _

_"Gouenji..." I thought, before shouting "Bye Gouenji-san!" _

_At that point, my thoughts on Gouenji-san were that he was meaningful in what he had to say, a little rude, and a really good soccer player. But I never realised that that was the exact moment I had fallen for this boy with the number ten printed on his back._

XxxxxX

That moment I talked to Gouenji-san after the match against Teikoku Academy replayed over and over in my mind for days. My mind wouldn't let it go for some reason. It's just... What Gouenji-san said about him not playing soccer anymore. Why would he stop when it's clear to see that he's amazing at it? I just didn't get it. It was driving me insane with curiosity. Plus I thought that with him on our soccer team, they would become a lot stronger, and be able to compete against other schools. A few days after the match, my mind started playing games with me, and I kept thinking he may have joined the Raimon Eleven after all. So after school each day, I would go check up on the team at the river side field to see if Gouenji-san was there. But sadly, he never was. But I watched the rest of the team, practising together and doing drills. It was amazing. The match against my brother really did motivate them to become stronger. After a bit over a week of coming to see if Gouenji-san was there, I started to come for the reason to simply watch them play. It looked like a lot of fun. It finally came to the point where I was sick of watching from a far, and decided to go watch closer with Kino-senpai.

"Kino-senpai!" I shouted as I ran along the side on the field to her.

"Oh, here to interview again?" She asked as I got close to her.

"Nope, I'm here to watch them practise," I said with excitement. "I became a fan of Raimon Eleven after that day! That going-all-out expression on everyone's faces were so cool!"

"We'll, thank you for that," she replied with an awkward supered face. I probably went a little over the top with answering her question, but hey, it was only us two. No way the guys on the field could have heard my weird over the top answer. I looked back onto the field and noticed Someoka-san surrounded by Endou-san and some of the others. From what I could see, Someoka-san looked a little tense.

"Is everything ok with Someoka-san?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. I think Someoka-kun is probably anxious about the next match."

"The next match?" I asked. I was amazed they already had another match planned for them. "Who are they playing against?"

"It's Occult Junior High," she replied. I felt a sudden chill go down my spine.

"Occult Junior High?!"

"What's wrong?" Kino-senpai asked in confusion.

"Don't you know, Senpai?" I asked, before she shock her head. I explained to her about the rumours and curses about Occult Junior High, which certainly frightened her.

After that, she called everyone in to the benches so I could tell them about these rumours, and the other info I had on them. At first, they didn't believe me. But little by little, they began to believe these rumours and started to freak out. Many of the first years started to mention that they needed Gouenji-san for his strength, but were quickly silenced by Someoka-san. Yet I too thought they needed Gouenji-san. These rumours and events from previous matches were evidence of what Occult Junior High's soccer team could do. I had to help out in some way. Then I thought that maybe I could talk to Gouenji-san about the match, and try to convince him about joining the team.

XxxxxX

The next day at the beginning of our lunch break, I went up to the second year class rooms to see if I could find Gouenji-san. It was extremely strange walking through the second year corridors. I felt like everyone was staring at me. Plus I didn't know where I was going. I was lost, so I gathered up the courage and asked a second year girl if she knew what class Gouenji-san was in. She was so kind, and pointed to the class room to the last room on the left. I thanked her and quickly ran to see if he was still in there. As I turned to run into the room, I ran straight into someone. Now because I was running, I completely knocked these person over. And with my luck, I managed to fall straight onto them as well.

"Oh my gosh... I'm so sorry about that," I said, rubbing my head as I sat up. I was so embarrassed that I didn't want to look the person in the eyes.

"Well, don't run next time," the person said. The voice was deep, so it was a guy. But his voiced seemed familiar. I opened my eyes, and seriously, I wanted to die then and there. I had fallen on Gouenji-san!

"Gou... Gouen... Gouenji-san?!" I yelled, before quickly covering my mouth with my hands. He was flat on his back just staring at me with an annoyed glare.

"Hello again, Otonashi," he said in a dead tone. It was obverse he was angry. "What are you doing here?"

"Well... I... Um... I... Came... To... Um..." I could think straight. I was even more embarrassed than before. "I came to... Talk to you... About something," I finally managed to say.

"Well okay," he said. "But first, do you think you could stand up? You're sort of sitting on my stomach."

I looked down and realised I had pinned Gouenji-san to the floor. I quickly hurried and stood up. And I thought it wasn't possible, but I was even more embarrassed than before. This talk hadn't really gone the way I planned. I was just thankful that we were the only two in the room. Gouenji-san stood up and brushed off the dirt on his uniform.

"So what did you want to talk about?" He said, not seeming to be embarrassed in the slightest way.

"Well... I came here to talk to you about... Joining the soccer team again..." I asked, a little worried about his answer. There was a silence before I heard a frustrated sigh coming from Gouenji-san.

"Otonashi, I already told you. I don't play anymore. And I don't want to play. Now will you just let it go?" He snapped.

"But Gouenji-san, they need you. They have a match again Occult Junior High in a few days, and they're starting to get..."

"Wait, did you say Occult Junior High?" He interrupted.

"Um... Yeah...?"

"Oh my god..." His face turned to stock. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious. Do you know about the rumours?" I asked, feeling a little more worried from his reaction about the team.

"Of course I know about those rumours. The team is messed up. I've seen them okay and let me tell you, it can get bad really quickly when they're losing."

"Well, this is a reason why I came to talk to you again," I said. "Gouenji-san, Endou-san and the others need you as a fellow team mate. They think you're amazing. Unstoppable even! Especially Endou-san and the first years. And me too. You're incredible. With you on the Raimon Eleven, nothing could stop them."

Gouenji-san looked at me with a shocked expression, amazed at what I just said.

"Please Gouenji-san. The guy who won that winning point doesn't seem like a guy who doesn't want to play soccer. Please join the team..." I said. I was probably annoying him again, but I thought I was slowing getting through to him.

"Ok..."

"What?" I asked, thinking I had misheard him.

"I said ok. I'll play on the team."

"Really?! YES!" I screamed with excitement as I jumped up and down.

"On one condition..." He said all of a sudden. I stopped jumping and waited for his question.

"You have to join with me," he said.

"Wait, what?"

**Cliffhanger! AHHHH! Sorry again about the long wait for this chapter. I know these chapters are quite short, but hopefully they'll get longer. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, and I'll hopefully have another update of this, or something else later this week. So until next time, BYE! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! Wow, only a few days after the last update. I'm getting good at this! Haha. Hope you enjoy the new chapter :)**

_End of previous chapter _

_"Ok..." _

_"What?" I asked, thinking I had misheard him._

_"I said ok. I'll play on the team."_

_"Really?! YES!" I screamed with excitement as I jumped up and down._

_"On one condition..." He said all of a sudden. I stopped jumping and waited for his question. _

_"You have to join with me," he said._

_"Wait, what?"_

XxxxxX

"Me? Join the team?" I asked in awe. "But I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" Gouenji-san asked.

"Well..." I began, turning to look at him slightly. He couldn't honestly be serious. But he looked and sounded like he meant it.

"Well for one, girls aren't aloud to play on the soccer team, so there's no point," I said, crossing my arms and trying to sound as serious as possible.

"That doesn't mean you can't be apart of the team."

"What?" I asked. I had no idea what he was on about.

"You can join as a manager, like that other girl," he said. "What's her name? She has short hair I think..."

"You mean Kino-senpai?" I asked.

"Yeah. She's a manager isn't she?"

"Uh... I don't know about becoming a manager Gouenji-san... I mean that's a pretty big responsibility."

"Look, I promise I'll join the soccer club if you join as a manager," he said. "Ok?"

I didn't know what to say. Why did he want me to be part of the team? Well I guess if we want him to play in the next match, I had no chose.

"Ok... I'll join as a manager," I said, giving him a smile.

"Thank you," he said, before walking past me towards the class room door to leave. "After school I'll join the club. Hopefully I'll see you there too." And with that, he left.

I honestly didn't get this guy. One moment he doesn't want anything to do with me, but then he suddenly wants me to join the soccer team with him? I just didn't get it. But I'm sort of glad he asked me to join with him. That meant he was starting to notice me.

"Wait... why do I care if he notices me?"

XxxxxX

After the finally bell, I quickly grabbed my books and bag, and ran to see if I could see Kino-senpai about joining. I ran to the second year area, and luckily saw her just as I made it to that level.

"Kino-senpai!" I shouted as I ran up to her. She turned, and smiled once she realised it was me calling her.

"Oh hey Otonashi-kun. How are you?" She asked kindly.

"I'm good thank you. Listen I was wondering about something. Would it be ok if I were to become a manager for the soccer club?" I asked.

"A manager?" She asked with a surprised expression. "Of course you can. What made you want to become a manager?"

"Because of Gouen..." I stopped. I couldn't say because Gouenji-san told me to. The would be too strange. Plus she didn't know he was going to join too. "Oh... Um... Well, because watching that last match made me fall in love with the game, and I'd love to help out and get to know everyone on the team," I said quickly, trying to make it sound like was originally going to say that.

"Oh, well I'm glad you feel that way. I don't see any reason why you can't become a manager, so welcome aboard," Kino-senpai replied with an even bigger smile. "How about you come with me and we tell the rest of the team? They have practise now anyway."

"Sure. I can't wait to start." It was good that she mentioned that, because Gouenji-san could already be down there.

Kino-senpai and I both made our way down to the soccer club house, and went inside to get everything set up for the boys. After about 10 minutes of preparing, the doors suddenly open, with Endou-san, Kazemaru-san and that other first and second year boys that were part of the soccer team. When they first saw me standing next to Kino-senpai, they looked a little confused why I was there.

"Everyone," Kino-senpai began. "I'd like you to meet our new manager."

"New manager?" Endou asked.

"Yep," I said. "I'm Otonashi Haruna from the newspaper club. I'll be the manager for the soccer club starting from today! I felt that it wasn't enough to just watch everyone practise. That's why I thought it'd be faster to just join the club. That's what I thought!" I had prepared what I was going to say so it looked like I had a clear reason for joining. However, I probably went a little over board with the explanation.

"I want to use the skills I've developed in the newspaper club to help everyone. Good to meet you!"

"That's how it is..." Kino-senpai said after I had finished my speech. Everyone went silent, probably from trying to absorb everything I had said. I quickly looked at the group of boys in front of Kino-senpai and I, and realised Gouenji-san wasn't there.

"Um... Endou-san?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He replied. "What is it?"

"Well I was wondering if anyone had joined the team recently..."

Endou and the others looked at me with confusion.

"Nope, everyone who's part of the soccer club is here right now."

"Except Someoka-san," Kurimatsu said while looking around.

"Hey you're right. Where is he?" Kino-senpai said.

"Knowing him, he's probably done at the river side soccer field already," Kazemaru said.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Ok everyone! Get changed and we'll head down to the field as soon as possible to start practise!" Endou said with excitement.

XxxxxX

After the team got changed into their soccer uniforms, they headed down to the field, leaving Kino-senpai and I to wash towels, make everything tidy and to check that everything to do with the soccer club was running smoothly. As we were hand washing some the towels outside, we both talked and began getting to know each other better. We'd talk about family, friends and school because we were in different year levels. And I started to become closer and closer to her just from talking.

"So Otonashi-kun," she began as she took one of the towels out of the bucket of water and squeezed it dry. "I was wondering, why did you asked Endou-kun if there were any now members?"

I stopped scrubbing the towels that were in my bucket at the time and looked up at her. "What... do you mean?"

"I don't know. I was just a little curious. Were you expecting someone to join?" She asked as she hung the towel she was holding on the line.

I looked down at the bucket of soapy water in front of me. I didn't know if I should tell her about Gouenji-san's promise he made. I didn't even think it was a promise anymore because he didn't even show up. I mean I did it because he asked me to. Wait... was that the only reason I joined? Because he... asked me to? No no no, that wasn't it. I wanted to join because I loved watching the sport. Yet... I never would have considered becoming a manager of the Raimon soccer club if Gouenji-san never brought it up.

"Um... Otonashi-kun?"

"Huh?" I snapped out of my thoughts and realised I hadn't answered her question. "Oh sorry! No, I wasn't expecting anyone to join. I was just wondering if anyone did after their match."

"Oh, alright then."

We continued to wash and pin up the towels, before Kino-senpai began talking again.

"You know Otonashi-kun, deep down I really hope a specific person will join the club."

At that point, I was about to grab another towel and put it in the bucket to wash, but stopped in response to her statement. "Really? Who?"

"Gouenji-kun," she said.

I was extremely surprised by her answer. So surprised that I accidentally pushed the dirty towel I had just picked up into the water so quickly that I ended up splashing myself.

"Are you ok?" She asked, shocked by suddenly seeing me all wet.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, shaking the water off my jacket. "Why do you want Gouenji-san to join the team?"

"Well you saw the way he played against Teikoku Academy. Plus he saved Endou and another little girl from getting hurt from these two strangers down by the river side field. I just think he could really help out the team, that's all."

I didn't like how she spoke so highly about Gouenji-san. It annoyed me. I already knew how amazing he was from that match. She probably thinks he's incredible and all of that. Yet she doesn't know he's a liar! And goes back on promises!

"What do you think?" Kino-senpai asked.

"Think of what?"

"Of Gouenji-kun of course? Do you think it'd be good if he joined the soccer team?" She asked.

I gripped the towel I was washing tightly, trying to restrain myself from sounding angry.

"Yeah... I think he would... help out the team a lot if he joined..." I tried to stay calm, but I wanted to tell Kino-senpai so badly about what a lying jerk he was!

"Um... Otonashi-kun, I think that towel might be clean enough. You've been washing it for a while now," Kino-senpai said, having changed the subject. I snapped out of my anger mode and realised it had gotten all heavy and gross from the water.

"Oh right! Oops..."

We continued to wash the rest of the towels and hung them up on the line that was connect from the roof of the club house to the tree right next to it. Once we were finished, I looked at the time on my watch.

"Wow, it's already 5. What time do you think the team will be back?" I asked curiously.

"I'm not entirely sure," Kino-senpai relied. "They should be back soon though."

Just as Kino-senpai finished her sentence, and I had looked from my watch, I saw the team coming back from their training.

"Oh look. There they are," Kino-senpai said while waving to them.

They all walked past us saying hello, before going into the club house. I watched them all head inside, but noticed someone with blond hair at the back of the group. I quickly moved around to get a better view, and couldn't believe who it was.

"Gouenji-san?!" I said. He stopped dead in he tracks and turned to me.

"Oh, it's you Otonashi," he said, walking over to me. At this point, everyone had already gone inside, including Kino-senpai, leaving just Gouenji-san and I.

"Yeah..." I said, purposely making my voice sound angry. "Um, what happened to our deal?"

"Deal?" He asked, like he had no clue what I was talking about.

"Our deal! The one about joining the soccer club!" I explained, extremely annoyed at his stubbornness.

"So you joined as a manager?" He asked casually.

"Eh, yes, like we agreed on." So he did know what I was talking about.

"Ok, good."

"So what about your end of the deal?" I asked, crossing my arms and leaning towards him. "Did you just trick me into joining because you thought it would be funny?"

"Of course not," he said, looking a little offended. "I wanted you to join with me."

"But you never joined!" I shouted in frustration.

"Yes I did."

I froze and looked up at him. "You what?"

"I joined the team."

"Woah... What?! You did?"

"Of course I did."

"But... when did you..." I asked, feeling a little out of the loop.

"Down by the river side soccer field about 10 minutes again."

"But..." I didn't know whether to be happy that he kept his promise or annoyed that he joined without me. I chose to be annoyed. "But you said we would join together."

"Yeah, I know I said that. But I thought Endou would like to be the first to hear it from me face to face."

"Then why didn't you tell me you were going to do that when we came up with that deal?" I asked, still slightly confused.

"I only thought of it after we made that promise and I walked off. I went back looking for you but you were gone."

"Oh..."

"Listen, I know I should have told you, but you shouldn't have worried or anything. I promised I would join, didn't I?" He said with a smile. I quickly looked away as I felt my cheek begin to burn from embarrassment. I felt like a fool because I did worry, and he knew I did.

"I know you were going to join. I just didn't know when after you didn't show up."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said sweetly. I didn't understand what was going on. Why was he being so kind to me all of a sudden?

"But hey," he started, before walking closer to me and placing his hand on my shoulder. "I really appreciate you joining as a manager. I'm looking forward to being in the same club as you."

I couldn't believe this guy. Why was I getting so embarrassed? When he finished, he took his hand off my shoulder and headed towards the club house, before stopped at the door.

"Oh, and by the way, your blushing," he said with a smirk, and went into the club house. I was completely frozen. This guy was totally unpredictable! When I first met him, he didn't even want to talk to me. Now he's smiling at me and saying he's looking forward to being in the same club as me?! I held my hands up to my chest. I could feel my heart pounding away like nuts. I didn't think it was possible, but was I starting to get a crush on Gouenji-san?

**Oh my god... That ending though! Sappy! Cheesy! Chick flick material! Muh, whatever! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Now here comes the sad news. I probably won't be updating this fic in a while from now on. I want to update one more chapter, but that's for something else, so this one will have to go on hold for the time being. Because, yes, school. My second semester starts next week, so sadly, I won't have anything for updates! But if I have anytime, I'll definitely use it for writing. So until next time, for whatever, whenever, BYE! :D**


End file.
